July 06, 2005
Ryerson's Akua Benjamin is among 1,000 women nominated to symbolically share the Nobel Peace Prize
From the Dean Williams:
I want to share with the Ryerson community wonderful news about Akua Benjamin, Director of the School of Social Work. Akua is among 1,000 women nominated worldwide, including 10 in Canada, to symbolically share the Nobel Peace Prize.The nomination is a statement of the immense contribution Akua is making to the causes of peace and social justice. We are thrilled that she is being recognized for her important work on anti-racism, crime, feminism, equity, anti-oppression and human rights. We can all take pride in her achievement!
Akua was nominated by the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 project, which aims to raise awareness of the millions of women around the world working for peace. She is in good company: Akua's fellow nominees from Canada include Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (See http://www.1000peacewomen.org)
Posted by jason at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
Strange things at Ryerson U
The Globe and Mail: MacMillan turns a new page after Paris 1919
For 27 years she teaches history at Toronto's Ryerson University. Her name is not a household word. The glitterati of Toronto society do not line up to pay $45 each to hear her speak. The media do not beg for her thoughts on world affairs and whither Canadian foreign policy. Michael Levine, agent to the stars, is not her agent. Canadian publishers reject her book-manuscript -- the product of five years work -- on the peace negotiations that followed the First World War. That is Prof. MacMillan in 2000, at age 57. In 2001, her book is published in Britain to spectacular acclaim. It wins prize after prize after prize, including the [GBP] 30,000 Samuel Johnson award for non-fiction....
She credits the Ryerson students she taught between 1975 and 2002 -- engineering students, nursing students, students of just about everything except history -- for compelling her to make her lectures interesting, and telling stories richly coloured with gossip. She once said if she hadn't dedicated her book to her family, she would have dedicated it to her Ryerson students.
Posted by jason at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2005
Wired @ Ry
I've finally gotten a couple of ethernet drops live into my office at Ryerson, ready for the monday move. Aside from the closet that I had at OISE for my server, this is the first office I've not had to share. Can't wait to move the espresso machine in!
As for what I'm doing here... finishing up a book chapter for Forgotten Gems of Horror Fiction that is due June 1. I'll get a draft online for comments asap.
Posted by jason at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2005
RyHigh from the Sky
This is a bird's eye view of Ryerson University, much of it anyway, brought to you by Google Maps. The green roof in the centre is the copper roof over my office. I'm on the forth floor, facing north overlooking the quad. Nice view.
Posted by jason at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)